90 seconds
For ninety seconds after, there was complete silence. Veronica knew this because although she was too dazed to move, she improbably found herself staring as at the second hand of an expensive silver watch.
It was one of the many unlikely occurrences that day held.
For ninety seconds, she observed the dark black line slowly make its orbit, marking off the seconds as reality adjusted. She wondered whose watch this was, and how it had ended up in her yard.
A bird chirped. Veronica looked up and realized that it was over. Nothing more was going to happen now. All that was left was to get up and try to assess the world as it was.
3 minutes
The realization that it was only self pity that held her down made it hard to stay on the ground, but she managed to avoid any movement for another three cycles of the second hand.
2 days
How many people lived on her street? Within a quarter mile?
If she was the only one left, then that made her what?… 1 in a hundred… 300?
Nothing would work.
It was easy to check on people. In their last moments everyone had left their doors wide open.
She hadn’t gotten the memo, another mystery. The static on radio was deafening.
The electricity was still on, but there was no internet or cell service.
How should that figure into her odds? 1 in a thousand?
4 days
There was nobody left in her neighborhood. In a few homes she found hasty notes:, to do lists of names, but no explanations.
It’s not just that they were gone. it’s that everyone else had seemed to know something was about to happen except for her and her husband. They had missed the invitation somehow.
When they had looked out the window and saw everyone’s cars with their open trunks and hoods open they had stepped onto the porch. Their neighbors were all lined up outside, waiting.
2 months
With nothing else to do, she processed her grief surprisingly quickly. The world around her was full of possibilities and the only immediate concern so far was the dogs.
The outside world was keeping it’s distance. But the animals that had been left behind had become a serious threat.
Even the cats moved in groups, looking slightly unhinged. When she saw them prowl the streets at night in ever larger packs, she imagined how betrayed they must have felt. They had given up their wild selves to build a life based on a certain kind of companionship and civilization. Then, with no explanation it was gone.
Her grief was in the past. The loneliness existed in the eternal now.
6 months
Slowly she had adapted to the mystery of her current circumstances. What had taken everyone? Should she trust the tap water? Why didn’t the car start? How would she eat when the perishable food ran out? Would they be back by then? How long would the electricity last?
She knew she had changed, but just how much was confirmed when she spotted a house-sized creature and did not scream. It was mostly robotic, and mostly spider shaped but with a humanoid torso and face. She was surprised of course, and afraid for her life, but she was not overwhelmed.
She hid, but it found her anyways.
6 months 1 day
In the end, all it wanted was some cake. She scavenged some, and they had a small birthday celebration.
6 months 3 days
He had been literally living in a cave and had no idea what had happened. But he offered this:
“Sometimes you just have to accept that the impossible happens and all the rules you knew before are gone. That happens and my ability to accept it when it does is one reason I have lasted as long as I have.
But… not yet. Let’s go visit the local power station. And if that doesn’t work well see if we can’t track down some aliens or old gods or something and wring an explanation out of them.
If you live long enough sometimes you find that you can do something, and even if not, it’s usually more interesting to try.”
6 months 1 week
She set her house on fire and watched as the irreplaceable memories held in the objects from her old life burned.
She opened up as much cat and dog food as she could find.
And they left together.